What is a battle or military campaign that I have probably not heard of?
I’ve written three essays in the past two weeks about various battles in history, ranging from the Battle of Isandlwana as part of the Anglo-Zulu War, to the Second Battle of the Marne in World War One, and I’ve come to realize that I am absolutely fascinated by the tactics, intel, leadership, and human elements that went into these vignettes of larger conflicts. I’ve always been interested in historical military weapons and uniforms, but I’ve never really paid much attention to the actual maneuvers and contexts of battles until now.
Since I have always been interested in the more off-beat and little known elements of history, I am interested in learning about some military campaigns that not many people are likely to know about… Stuff like the Quasi-War and the Polar Bear Expedition. Additionally, I’m interested in relevant books and resources.
Thanks, lovelies.
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What about the Battle of Khalkin-Gol (betwwen the Soviet Union and Japan) which forced the Japanese to expand into the Pacific and ultimately led to Pearl harbor? It was a massive tank battle.
@marinelife, I’ve never heard of it, and it sounds interesting, and I admittedly don’t know much about Japanese military history, so it meets my criteria. Thank you! :D
Have you heard of the Battle for Fort Carillion? Now known as Fort Ticonderoga
Well, it’s not that far back in history, but here’s a battle fought during the Falklands conflict. British military kicks junta’s arse!
@Adirondackwannabe, nope, but I’m going to add it to my list. Thanks!
@ucme, you of all people should know that I do love reading about British ass-kickery. I have read a bit about the Falklands conflict, but not enough to mumble more than a few sentences about it. Thanks for the link.
@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Yeah, I thought it was a pretty big ask to find an example you were unfamiliar with, but hey, that’s reputations for you. Oh & you’re welcome.
Presumably you know about the Battle of Leyte Gulf toward the end of the Pacific Theater of WWII, and the amazing exploits of Task Force Taffy. (I didn’t know about this myself until several years ago, and I’ve always been interested in naval warfare.)
The overall battle itself was significant, but what Taffy did in the Battle off Samara was beyond heroic. Small, slow, unarmored escort carriers and little destroyers turned back the Japanese battleships… who may have achieved their objective of destroying the Allied landings otherwise. The destroyer attacks were suicidal (not kamikaze suicidal, but the end result was the same)—but they worked.
Have you heard or read about the battles of Subotai, probably one of the greatest generals in history?
I’m sure you have heard of the Crimean War in which Britain and France fought against Russia. It is interesting as it is one of the first wars to be photographed and one of the first in which the hellish conditions of the fighting soldiers became an issue with the public back home. This was the war in which Florence Nightingale, the ‘Maid with the Lamp’ became famous for helping the wounded.
@King_Pariah, I like the name, but I thought you were joking until I looked it up on the wiki. Thanks!
@WasCy, I actually didn’t know about that, but I’m definitely intrigued. Hell, I could incorporate that into my senior thesis next year. Thanks!
@bob_, oh yeah, I’m definitely familiar with the Winter War. I even wrote a paper about Simo Häyhä once.
@mazingerz88, it fits my criteria very well. Thank you!
@wilma, I just read it. That’s kind of a funny story. Thanks dear!
@Rarebear, nope, never heard of them until now, but I’m very interested in individual personalities in military history, and this guy sounds pretty interesting so far. Thanks!
@meiosis, I’ve heard of the Cod Wars, but not the War of Jenkin’s Ear. Thank you!
@flutherother, definitely. I actually have a book of those photos you mention. I love google books, so that link is greatly appreciated.
Battle of Tigranocerta
I couldn’t quite remember the name of the battle, but is by far in my top ten favorite battles of all time.
And no problem with Cowpens. Daniel Morgan is my favorite Revolutionary War commanding officer.
There was a show on History Channel that discussed how the battles from the Bible became blueprints for modern day battles. There was one battle, during WWII I believe, where the general realized the pass that he was trying to defeat was mentioned in the Bible in one of the battles Saul led to a victory. He studied Saul’s strategy using geographical formations and applied it, then won that battle. It’s obvious, I know, that I don’t remember many details but I found it to be fascinating that a relatively modern battle plan was drawn from a battle that took place 2000 years prior, and the geographic determinations that led to victory 2000 years ago, were the same features that led to a modern victory. Fascinating!
The Battle of Sedgemoor: it was fought on 6 July 1685and took place at Westonzoyland near Bridgwater in Somerset, England.
It was the final battle of the Monmouth Rebellion and followed a series of skirmishes around south west England between the forces of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth and the crown (James II) he was trying to take. The royalist forces prevailed and about 500 troops captured. Monmouth escaped from the battlefield but was later captured and taken to London for trial and execution. Many of Monmouth’s supporters were tried during the Bloody Assizes led by judge Jeffries. Many were transported abroad, while others were executed by drawing and quartering.
I presume you’ve already thoroughly studied the Battle of Five Armies and the others detailed in the same chronicles?
One interesting trivia thing with Khalkin Gol is the Russians used tanks that were designed in the US (Cristie). The BT-5 and BT-7’s had the high velocity 45mm guns as well as their BA series armored cars which were built on the Ford model “A” trucks.
Or how about the (real) Battle of Vienna ending the two-month siege of Vienna by the Ottoman Turks in 1683?
If you read the wonderfully readable 1776, by David McCullough, you’ll find out how precarious the start of the American Revolution really was. The British evacuation of Boston was a huge success early in the Revolution. The rebels transported captured cannon from Fort Ticonderoga over the terrible roads of the time (no Mass Turnpike then!) by oxen and secretly placed them in the hills ringing Boston, making the city untenable to the British commanders.
But later, when the reinforced and regrouped British sailed a huge armada unopposed (since there was nothing to oppose them with!) into New York to take over that city, Washington nearly lost his entire command in ill-conceived battles at the western end of Long Island. Inexplicably, in one night, the British allowed him to evacuate every man from the island… to another island, Manhattan. Washington fought a retreating action all the way north on Manhattan (in danger of being cut off and surrounded at all times), until the army escaped again, west over the Hudson River, to fight the same rear-guard action south through New Jersey.
The entire early history of the Revolution was a story of loss upon loss, in fact.
The evacuations of Long Island and Manhattan presage other notable failures of pressing the war against a nearly-collapsed army by an almost invincible force, including the British Evacuation at Dunkirk in 1940, and the escape of Rommel’s army from Tunisia, North Africa, across the Mediterranean to Sicily. Not to mention the famous Allied failure of Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands, 1944.
The long delayed follow-up to Khalkin-Gol/Nomohan was the Soviet Invasion of Manchuria, which kicked off on 9 August 1945, the same day America dropped the second atomic weapon used in anger on Nagasaki.
The Japanese had set their last hope on the Soviets mediating a peace agreement between them and the western Allies. So when the Red Army came down bearing whole cases of cans of whoop ass upon their strategic hinterland it was something of a rude shock. It was possibly more important than the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs in the mind of the Emperor when he ordered his cabinet to surrender unconditionally.
The invasion is notable for the sustained rate of advance achieved by the Red Army despite the terrain and lack of transportation infrastructure.
Battles of Whitestone Hill, Killdeer Mountain and Sibley’s Dakota campaign during the civil war.
Look up The Dakota War By Kenneth Carley
The Johnson County war in Wyoming.
There are several good books on Amazon for this.
The Toledo war. I know this is an older thread, but is my favorite little slice of history.
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